When i first saw it I thought "Why would they make the same mistake as the Akira-prise?"
Why base your whole series ship design on a rejected design from the 60s, just because the fans have seen it before?
The more I thought about it the more I thought about the statement a ship like this makes.
It's ugly. But its deliberately ugly, so the producers are obviously implying this is a "Behind the scenes" ship in the trek universe.
This isn't a ship that gets in-universe headlines like the Enterprises or other flagships before and after, this is a workhorse ship that gets the low-profile jobs done.
Having said that, I still think it's a mistake. Star Trek relies a lot on the "cool" factor, and a good looking main ship can get a lot of casual fan attention, maybe even keep that attention long enough for them to get attached to the characters and plot of the thing.
A lot of them with this ship will think it's ugly and not bother tuning in to see more of it, the opposite of what I did when i first saw the Enterprise D on TV as a child in the single digits.
But then there could be a bit of Whedon sydrome here, launching this ship to great fanfare only to have it destroyed during the pilot and the true "discovery" will be either just a metaphor for the crew's ability to work together or a sleeker ship the crew are rewarded with at the end of the pilot (which, now I think about it, would be a good hook for people to pay for the rest of the series, making the current design of the ship a bit of a loss leader in that respect)
Oh well, lets let this play out before we rush to too much judgement.
Although, as I'm posting this on a multiple page-d thread, that may be slamming the cargo bay door way after the ship has warped off
